The World Surf League (WSL) has announced that the 2021 Challenger Series (CS), the ultimate battleground for surfers attempting to qualify for the elite-level Championship Tour, will include four stops this condensed season with events in California, Portugal, France, and Hawaii.
With the 2021 CS season being condensed and focusing on the Northern Hemisphere, the Piha Pro CS event will be postponed for this year but aims to return in 2022.
“Although we are disappointed to not be heading to New Zealand for the Challenger Series event the Piha Pro in 2021, we are excited to be working towards delivery in 2022 and beyond,” said WSL APAC General Manager Andrew Stark. “With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to put massive restraints on global travel, the series will be held across four events and three countries in 2021. We’d like to thank our partners at Auckland Unlimited along with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for their understanding at this time. We look forward to heading to Piha in 2022.”
Auckland Unlimited Head of Major Events, Richard Clarke, said: “We understand the reasons why this year’s Piha Pro cannot go ahead but we remain committed to working with the WSL on an event in 2022.”
MBIE Manager of Major Events, Susan Sawbridge, said: “While the cancellation of the Piha Pro in 2021 is disappointing, given the continued challenges the global COVID-19 environment, we understand why this decision was made. It gives the competition its best chance to be held in New Zealand in the future."
Stay tuned to www.worldsurfleague.com for more information on the 2022 WSL Challenger Series Calendar and the inaugural Piha Pro.
About the WSL
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world's best surfing.
A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world's largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.
Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com.
WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.
The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
Photo credit: World Surf League